About Our Photography Classes

We have been in the business of providing unparalleled photography education since 2007. We have built our school around the simple concept of experiential learning. We understand that people generally learn via three methods; listening, watching and doing. We specialize in making photography accessible by allowing you to experience and learn directly.

Unlike some of the community photography classes available, our photography school and courses were designed by photographers for photographers.

No matter what your photography style or interests are, The Burwell School of Photography provides an unparalleled learning experience for its students. Our courses are offered in a down-to-earth manner and focus on an interactive and experiential learning experience. Whether you are a new digital photographer wanting to learn how to better use your camera or an intermediate searching to sharpen your skills, we have a course for you. The school offers courses on Digital SLR Fundamentals, Photography Fundamentals, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Portrait Photography, Portrait Retouching, Wedding Photography, Macro Photography, Wildlife Intensive Weekend Workshops, a Loon Photography Workshop and five annual workshops that allow students to photograph animals in natural settings that would either be difficult or dangerous to see in the wild.

Student’s who have completed courses with the Burwell School of Photography rave about their experiences. Register now-we have small class sizes and our courses sell out quickly!Here is some more information about the Burwell School of Photography classes:

Core Classes

Digital Camera Fundamentals Class – Are you a beginning or long term user of a digital camera but still feel like you don’t understand all its features and functions? Have you ever thought that the photograph you took didn’t turn out like you meant it to? Do you need help processing, storing and presenting your photos? If you don’t like reading manuals or have never even noticed that your camera came with a manual, this is the course for you. We’ll help you learn to best use your camera to make great photos. Click here for more information.

DSLR Fundamentals Class – This course is aimed at the photographer who has a digital SLR camera (camera with interchangeable lenses) and has primarily used the camera in automatic mode. You will learn how to best utilize your camera’s features in both manual and automatic modes. These newfound skills will allow you to start making the photographs you envision instead of relying on the camera’s often faulty judgments in automatic mode. This course is designed for photographers who are new to digital SLR photography. Click here for more information.

Photography Fundamentals Class – This course is for photographers who have either graduated from the DSLR Fundamentals course or photographers who are comfortable operating their camera in Manual, Aperture and Shutter Priority modes. The Photography Fundamentals course helps you to become a better photographer by teaching how elements like light, exposure and composition make photographs much more powerful. Click here for more information.

Lightroom 4 Class – This software from Adobe is arguably the best software to manage the complete workflow (or taking the photographs from the camera, sorting them, processing them and then outputting them) for photographers today. This course will teach students how to take advantage of the incredible power of this easy-to-use software. Most photographers can do over 98% of what they will ever need to do to most photos entirely within Adobe Lightroom. Click here for more information.

Photoshop Elements Class – Photoshop is the defacto standard application for photography manipulation software. When a photo requires more extensive editing than that afforded by a program like Lightroom, it is Photoshop that is often turned to. There are two primary versions of Photoshop: Photoshop Elements and Photoshop CS5. Photoshop Elements does 99.9% of the editing that the vast majority of photographers will ever require. This course will teach you how to harness the power of Photoshop Elements. Click here for more information.

Portrait Photography Class – Photographing people is one of the most difficult things to do and yet one of the most common subject matters. This intensive weekend course will cover many aspects of portrait photography and leave you with the knowledge and skills to create more flattering, creative and well lit portrait photographs. Click here for more information.

Available Light Photography Classes – This Edmonton available light photography course allows you to spend a weekend learning how to make the best possible pictures using the light that is naturally available to you. These techniques are great for child portraits or pet photography, done in your own home. This is a lecture and do workshop so you’ll want to bring along your camera and maybe an external flash. Click here for more information.

Portrait Retouching Class – This course will leverage your Photoshop experience (either Photoshop Elements or Photoshop CS5) as you learn the tips, tricks and techniques that photographer’s use on a daily basis to retouch portraits. You’ll learn techniques such as skin softening while retaining detail and texture, tricks for enhancing eyes, eyebrows and eyelashes, selective sharpening, body sculpting and how to give your retouches a natural look. Click here for more information.

Elective Courses

HDR Photography Classes – This Edmonton HDR photography course allows you to spend a weekend learning about the techniques and skills required to produce captivating HDR (high dynamic images) with an extended dynamic range beyond what the camera can create on its own. By using HDR techniques we can capture more of a range and reproduce one final image that holds incredible amounts of detail and one which can become quite painterly and/or artistic. This is a lecture and do workshop with a field trip component so you’ll want to bring along your camera and a tripod. Click here for more information.

Landscape Photography Classes – This Edmonton based landscape photography course allows you to spend a weekend learning about the equipment and techniques required for creating artful landscape photography images. You’ll learn about techniques list exposure, lighting considerations, equipment choices, focus choices and depth-of-field to help you make Compelling landscape images. This is a lecture and do class with a field trip component so you’ll want to bring along your camera and possibly a tripod. Click here for more information.

Macro Photography Intensive Weekend – This Edmonton macro photography course allows you to spend a weekend learning about the equipment, techniques and creating artful images using macro photography. You’ll learn techniques to help you make razor sharp images while maximizing the amount of the image that is in focus. This is a lecture and do workshop so you’ll want to bring along your camera with macro capabilities or a macro lens. Click here for more information.

Night Photography Classes – This Edmonton night photography course This course will teach you to make compelling images during the time of day most people don’t try to photograph; night time. You’ll learn how to photograph at night or in dark conditions using long exposures, equipment considerations and all about the techniques of painting with light. This is a lecture and do class so you’ll want to bring along your camera with a tripod and cable release. Click here for more information.

Wildlife Intensive Weekend – This Edmonton based course features an entire weekend dedicated to the subject of wildlife photography with frank discussions on equipment and tips, tricks and techniques for making quality wildlife images. This course also includes a fieldtrip where we go out to a special location or two to do some wildlife photography. This course does not require that you have a super telephoto lens; rather a lens in the range of 70-300mm will work quite well for the course. Click here for more information.

Wedding Photography Class – If you are just contemplating photographing your first wedding or if you are a seasoned pro, there is plenty in this class that will help you to photograph with the skill and confidence you need. Instructor Chris Stambaugh MPA condenses his 22 years of experience in one intensive weekend of fun and photography. Chris will walk you through a wedding from begining to end. Starting with techniques to better communicate with your bride and groom and proper planning to eliminate surprises and maximize the potential for great photographs. You move on to learning detailed techniques for each segment of the wedding day including the pre ceremony getting ready pictures, the church ceremony, the portrait session and the reception. Learn when to use a photojournalistic approach and when to take charge and direct your photo session. Click here for more information.

Wildlife Photography Workshops

Loon Photography Workshop – This workshop, based out of a resort near Kamloops, British Columbia, allows wildlife photographers to make some fantastic images of the Common Loon. Common Loons are a favourite for photographers because of the challenges of getting close to them coupled with the difficulty in making a good image of their contrasting white and dark feathers. This workshop helps eliminate one of those challenges as the lake we visit features some very tame (yet wild) loons. And if we’re lucky, our timing will coincide with the birth of the year’s baby chicks and we’ll be able to help you get pictures of these magnificent birds shuttling their young around on their backs. When we’re not photographing loons, we’ll be out looking for other wildlife including marmots, grebes, woodpeckers, sapsuckers and more. Click here for more information.

Epic Polar Bear Photography Workshop – This workshop, based out of the Seal River Lodge north of Churchill, Manitoba will allow you to get out on the ground and safely face Canada’s largest predator eye-to-eye for some extremely compelling Polar Bear Photography. Most Polar Bear Photography opportunities comes from a Tundra Buggy that puts you at least 12-14 feet above the ground forcing you to shoot down at the bears to make photographs. The very experienced guides at the lodge we deal with will keep us safe as we walk the tundra with the bears. This remote lodge on the shores of Hudson Bay features fantastic home-made foods, super comfortable living conditions and a staff who are service specialists. Besides bears there are often opportunities to photograph Arctic Fox, Willow Ptrarmigan, Arctic Hare and of course the dramatic landscapes that surround the lodge. Click here for more information.

Triple D Wildlife Photography Workshops – These workshops are presented in conjunction with the Triple “D” Game Farm who are located in Kalispell, Montana. Triple “D” has been in the business of working with photographers and cinematographers for over fourty years. Triple “D” is home to a wide variety of animal species. Many of these animals are extremely difficult and/or dangerous to view in the wild and so Triple “D” makes it so that photographers can safely acquire images of these animals. Some of the animals available to photograph (time of year dependant) can include: Grizzly Bear, Black Bear, Mountain Lion, Siberian Tiger, Snow Leopard, Tundra Wolves, Arctic Wolves, Arctic Foxes, Red Foxes, Cross Foxes, Grey Foxes, Coyote, Bobcat, Canada Lynx, Siberian Lynx, Fisher, Badger, Pine Marten, Wolverine, Raccoon, Skunk and Porcupine. We put on five workshops a year with the folks at Triple “D” and regularly feature a Spring Workshop (featuring primarily baby animals, some with parents), a Summer Workshop (featuring a mixture of baby and adult animals), a Fall Workshop (featuring animals in fall colours), a Winter Workshop (featuring the animals with their best fur coats of the year). Additionally, in the month of April, the Triple “D” travels from its location in Kalispell to locations like Utah, California and Monument Valley. During these workshops we take the animals to various photography locations that are set up to utilize the light optimally while presenting the animals in a natural setting without fences creeping into your shots. When we’re not photographing, we spend time in the conference facilities at the Triple “D” learning about making better images. If you’re looking to increase your portfolio of animal images, there is no better way to do it then with one of these workshops. Click here for more information.